All Forum Posts by: Xavier Y.

@Tahir King

@Jerry Ta

I just recently purchased a home in Houston and worked with a very friendly Title Company. Unfortunately, I don't know if they are investor-friendly as this property was not an investment. I would be more than happy to connect you with the person I was working with. She's very helpful, attentive, and welcoming. PM and I could introduce you to her. 

Tahir and Jerry, I'd like to invest more in Houston, whether it would be buy and hold or fix and flip. I'm currently working on a rehab in Chicago and in the process of finding money to do a second flip. I'd like to know what your focuses are in real estate and maybe we can work together in the future. Thanks.

Xavier

Hey @Andrew Lisi

You probably did the most important thing in your real estate "career" and that's jump in and put yourself out there. It does take courage, but you did it and now it's time to take action. I suggest you use this platform (BiggerPockets) to ask as many questions as you can think of and learn as much as you can.

What are your goals in real estate? Do you want to focus on Rentals or Fix and Flips?

If your looking for passive income/rentals in Chicago, I think @Brie Schmidt is one of the authorities around here :)

If you're trying to go into Fix and Flips (rehabs), PM me and I can give you some referrals.

Either way, I suggest you get involved and use BiggerPockets as your platform to take your goals to the next level. 

To your success!

Xavier

Welcome @John Warren!

I just posted about having a good number of investors in the west suburbs. I'm pretty close to Riverside. 

Also congrats on getting your first deal and working on getting your license. You are going to have a few busy months, but in the end it will be worth it! Getting your license will definitely elevate your business.

Good luck with closing your deal. Let us know the details once you have under contract and what your exit strategy is. I love hearing about new investors and their first deal. It's always exciting and scary all at the same time.

Again, welcome and hope this deal is one of many for you!

Hey welcome to BP @Neil R.

I second Dale's comment on "Bad Renters" They tend to be the fault of an unorganized and lenient landlord. You have to set rules and follow them, otherwise tenants will walk all over you. Also, don't your father's experiences deter you from trying different investment strategies.  Although Chicago is really tenant-friendly, buy and hold can be a very lucrative strategy if you are diligent and organized. 

I'm in Westchester, so I'm pretty close to La Grange. In fact, I went to high school there. It seems like there are a lot of investors in this area. Great opportunity to connect and learn from each other, even partner up on deals!

To your success, Neil! And once again, welcome!

Hey @Account Closed my brother took the course you mentioned that was 75-hours of course material and exam and then 15-hours of interactive/webinar sessions. He did attend the 75-hours in class and he took the Saturday classes since he worked during the week. I believe they have online, as well, but I don't think you get to keep the material. During the classroom one you keep the books to study off of, so that was another plus. It's the C.A.R. (Chicago Association of Realtors) pre-license program. From what I've seen out there, on average it's a bit higher priced, but not by much. you can Google "CAR real estate chicago" to get more info. Hope this helps!

 Those were some great pointers that you gave Natasha. They really resonated with me because this is what I'm currently trying to do. I have little experience, but have the time, effort, drive, and motivation to (and great credit) to put forth on a deal with an experienced investor. I'd like to connect with you to see if we can work together on a deal in the near future. 

@Kyle Jorgensen 

Welcome to the wonderful world of BP!

You introduced yourself at a perfect time. I'm looking for investors willing to team up and learn from others. I would consider myself a beginner, but have been learning a lot here on BP. I'll PM you and see how we can help one another.

@Wendell De Guzman

Great post, once again! Definitely keep them up! I have been recently reading them and I must say this is a very genius way to market yourself and your company, but on the same token you are reaching out and helping other investors be as successful.

Many investors feel that sharing too much or helping others is taking away from their business, while you completely go against the grain and are achieving great success this way. You are creating an amazing atmosphere of transparency and collaboration that I feel is inherent of successful entrepreneurs.

I'd like to help you achieve your goal for this year! I'll PM you about possibly getting together and discussing a JV opportunity. Again, keep up the amazing posts and the great spirit of collaboration!

@Christina R. thanks for the awesome Google Voice tip! I will try to implement this when I hire my first VA. I believe that if it is announced to both parties that you are recording the line (I just read that GV does this) it should be ok, but I will definitely check on this before implementing it in Illinois.

I was just searching BP for some info on VAs, so this was perfect timing! I was wondering how I would go about hiring a VA to answer the phone and call back sellers from either eLance or oDesk. One way I was contemplating would be using Google Voice and just link her specific phone number to this GV account I created for VAs. The problem I'm having is how do I pay this person for only the time she spent on the phone qualifying my lead? I know eLance has a Tracker tool, but when calls can occur at random times, how do I contract someone to answer calls at random times without paying for a block of time? Does anyone have other ideas they wouldn't mind sharing?